Paul Adelstein has revealed that his Private Practice character feels "guilty" that he could not protect Charlotte from being attacked.

Cooper is currently unaware that Charlotte was raped, but Adelstein told Zap2It that he will be shocked to see Charlotte so "broken".

"He does feel guilty and he does feel angry and he does feel powerless," he said. "This has been a relationship that has really been based on a lot of things, but one of the pillars of it is he respects this woman's strength and needs it, and I think is attracted to it.

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"To see her so broken in a way is very difficult for Cooper. I think he's a conscious 21st century male. He doesn't want to make it about him, but it is so incredibly disruptive. I think he's giving it a go and he doesn't know what to do with all the feelings he has."

Adelstein continued: "As optimistic as Cooper is and as light-hearted as he could be, what we picked up from him at the beginning of the series is that there's obviously some self-destructive impulses there and some demons in his past. This sort of stirs that stuff up, but he is doing his best to remain an optimistic guy."

Adelstein also suggested that Cooper has no idea that Charlotte was raped, saying: "I think it's like being blinded by an explosion. It's so visible what happened to her that I don't think he can see past that. I don't think he picked up on any of the things that some of the other people may be picking up on. I think Charlotte's going out of her way to make sure he doesn't."